Sleeping woman

Sleeping Woman, painted around 1790-92, depicts a female figure in repose, a subject that allows Goya to explore the vulnerability and sensuality of the unconscious body. The painting dates from the period just before Goya's devastating illness of 1792-93 and shows the assured, luminous technique of his pre-crisis work. The theme of sleep and dreams would take on much darker resonances in later works like The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. This earlier treatment remains within the tradition of eighteenth-century sensual genre painting while hinting at the psychological depths Goya would later plumb. The painting's intimate scale suggests it was a personal work or private commission rather than an official portrait.

Goya renders the sleeping figure with gentle, warm tones and soft handling, creating an image of vulnerable beauty that contrasts with his more dramatic and disturbing subjects.